Andrei Platonov (Russian: Андре́й Плато́нов, IPA: [ɐnˈdrʲej pɫɐˈtonəf]; 28 August [O.S. 16 August] 1899[1] – 5 January 1951) was the pen name of Andrei Platonovich Klimentov (Russian: Андре́й Плато́нович Климе́нтов), a Soviet Russian writer, philosopher, playwright, and poet, whose works anticipate existentialism. Although Platonov was a Communist, most of his works were banned in his own lifetime for their skeptical attitude toward collectivization and other Stalinist policies, as well as for its experimental, avant-garde form. His famous works include the novels The Foundation Pit (Котлован) and Chevengur (Чевенгур).
New York Review Books Classics issued a collection of short stories, including his most famous story, The Potudan River, with an introduction by Tatyana Tolstaya, in 2000. New York Review Books reissued a collection of Platonov's work including the novella Soul (Dzhan), the short story The Return, and six other stories in 2007. This was followed by a reissue of The Foundation Pit in 2009, and Happy Moscow, an unfinished novel that was left unpublished in Platonov's lifetime, in 2012
